Knock it offIs it a case of simultaneous inspiration or is...

INSIDE FASHION

September 19, 1991|By Edited by Catherine Cook

Knock it off

Is it a case of simultaneous inspiration or is it a pure and simple knockoff of another designer's great idea? In fashion it's often difficult to distinguish. October's Glamour magazine shows five party dresses that look awfully similar to a pearl-strapped, back-bowed trapeze dress that Bill Blass showed in his last spring collection.

Rather than cry foul about copycats, Blass spokesman Tom Fallon told Glamour, "the only clever way to deal with it is to beat the competition -- knock yourself off in your own lower-priced line, which is what Bill did. He said, 'This is the kind of dress that's gonna get copied.' "

--C.C. The bonding between parent and child is the focus of an innovative line of products just introduced by the Body Shop and available at local branches in Harborplace and White Marsh Mall.

Body Shop founder Anita Roddick developed the Mamatoto line (derived from the Swahili word for mother and baby) with knowledge gained from her study of pregnancy and childbirth in cultures around the world, from the Innuit Eskimos to the Ibos of Nigeria.

The 17-item launch includes such items as a baby Massage Gel ($11.25) made with geranium and camomile oils, a Cooling Leg Gel ($4.95) for the tired legs and feet of mothers-to-be, and Nipple Cream ($4.45) made with cocoa butter and aloe.

Many of the items have been imaginatively packaged to make handy gifts, such as the Labor-Day pack that contains items that Moms might appreciate in the first days after delivery -- such as creams, oils, powders and even 10 birth announcements. Does a CinderFella you know have tiny feet? Men with shoe sizes 3 1/2 to 7 can play footsie in comfort now that Cinderella of Boston, a company that has catered exclusively to small women's footwear for fifty years, has introduced a collection for men. A free catalog of the Charles Phillip Collection is available by calling (818) 709-1174 or writing Charles Phillip Collection, 21004 Nordhoff St., Chatsworth, Calif. 91311.